Medication error threatens the quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of health care for all Americans. In July 2006 a committee of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that there are at least 1.5 million preventable adverse drug events in the U.S. each year. The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) seeks partial support from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for a conference, Embracing the PBRN Model to Improve the Medication Use Process. This national conference is to be held February 22-24, 2007, in Charlotte, NC. AHRQ has conducted two national conferences which demonstrate that practice- based research networks (PBRNs) are a productive way to advance and translate knowledge into improvements in the quality and safety of healthcare. The new IOM report, Preventing Medication Errors, documents what is known about the problem of drug-related morbidity and lays out a national agenda to prevent it. Therefore AACP proposes to bring together faculty researchers and clinicians from multiple disciplines to consider practice-based research in pharmacy settings as a way to improve medication use. The Specific Aims of the Conference are to: (1) identify the knowledge gaps that might be addressed by research networks in pharmacy practice settings; (2) describe the education and training of people to carry out that work; and (3) specify the infrastructure requirements necessary for PBRNs to create and sustain progress in research and education. PBRNs are an attractive way to partner the academic and practice communities. They represent a way for schools and colleges of pharmacy to provide faculty development for all full-time and part-time practice based preceptors in accord with new accreditation standards adopted for 2007. Participants at this working conference will define the research training, infrastructure and career development needs for a PBRN, and formulate strategies for implementing successful collaborations. Proceedings of the conference will be posted to the AACP web site, published in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, and reported at the AACP Annual Meeting in 2007. Guided by the conference, AACP member institutions will develop programs for researchers, student pharmacists, and pharmacist practitioners that supports practice-based research. The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy proposes a conference that brings together faculty researchers and clinicians from multiple disciplines to consider practice-based research networks (PBRNs) as an approach to improving the medication use process. Participants at this working conference will address the research training, infrastructure and career development needs of a PBRN and formulate strategies for implementing successful collaborations. This national conference is scheduled for February 22-24, 2007, in Charlotte, North Carolina. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]